Cartridge belt link



0st. 19, N48. R. R. STUDLER CARTRIDGE BELT LINK Filed March 10, 1945 gjwuc/wto'n Rene R- Stu lil er awed/W Patented Oct. 1.9;1348

TENT OFFICE (Granted under the act of March 3, 18 8 3 as amended April 30, 1928; 370 '0. G. 757) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty there-on.

diameters of all the links.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a modified form of link.

Fig.4 is a cross sectional view of a pair of the links such as that shown in Figure 3, the section being taken in a plane including the metallic inserts of each link.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing another modification.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional View in a plane '2 including the axes of all the loops of the link shown in Figure 5.

Referring to the drawing by characters of ref erence the link shown in Figure 1 can be seen to This invention relates to a belt link for asconsist of a single loop l and a pair of double sembling adisintegrating cartridge belt for a maloops 2 and 3 offset laterally therefrom an'd'lonchine gun and more particularly to an improvegitudinally spaced to receive between them the ment in that class of belt link heretofore consingle loop of an adjacent link. A connecting structed of non-metallic material. body portion 4 joins the single loop to each of the The so-called plastic belt links have a very double loops. In the link shown a groove 5 is, important advantage from the standpoint of formed in the inner surface of the body portion weight since one thousand plastic links weigh 4 just inside the rear or cartridge body engaging only about one sixth as much as an equivalent loop 3. This groove will preferably be formed number of conventional metallic links. This ad-; with a cross sectional shape substantially id'ene vantage, however has been largely outweighed tical to that of a split ring spring 6 so that such by the disadvantages which result from the lack spring may be forced'into the groove and retained of dimensional stability which seems to be intherein by engagement With the Sides of t e herent in all plastic links so far produced. The groove. Each of the double loops will be formed importance of this factor will be apparent when w th an inter di t a e enOllgh to insure it is recalled that the functioning of the machine that, even under the most unfavorable climatic gun is dependent upon the delivery th r t f th conditions encountered, there will never be an cartridges in accurate alignment and. in a predeexcessively tight p p the Cartridge; e termined position. Further the gun mechanism steel gripp g ring 6 engaged by the link is p must function to grasp the cartridge and withport-ioned to give the desired resistance to axial draw it rearwardly from the belt for presentation mQVeme'nt 0f the k along the t ge bod to the chamber. Any noticeable variation in dithus insuring -a y n y of the link pro mensions results either in looseness which may to swell Will not result in loosening t e r p upo permit misalignment or in an excessively tight e Cartridgegrip which may cause malfunctioning by reason The modified form of link Shown in Figures 3 of inabilit of the gun t extract th cartridge and 4 is substantially-of the same construction from the belt as that described above, and difiers therefrom in It is therefore an object of this invention to the means of r g the steel g pp ring in provide a belt link which will retain the desirable placeslot 7 iS Cut entirely gh the body characteristics of the plastic link and avoid the portion 4a of the link in the zone immediately disadvantages bove mentioned, adjacent the front edge of the rear or body en- The exact nature of the invention as well as gaging 100p A cartridge gripping ring 8 is other objects and advantages thereof will clearly provided at its end Portions with outturned. hook appear from a description of a preferred embodimembers 9 and is insfirted into the $101? by .ment as Shown in the accompanying drawing in tactmg the ring to allow the hook members to which; pass through the slot and then allowing them to Fig 1 is a pictorial View of a belt link com spring outwardly enough to retain the ring in the structed according to my invention. slot. The ring 15 formed to a diameter slightly 2 is a longitudinal sectional View through lessha P of the t body and p the link of Figure 1 taken on a plane including the cartr dge is nserted therein W111 have the desired gripping action. It should be noted that the hook members protrude through the body portion of the link beside the single loop la and are in a position to engage the outer periphery of the gripping ring of an adjacent link, as shown in Figure 4, In this way the cartridge gripping ring functions to-assist in controlling the spacing of the cartridges in the belt as Well as maintaining-them in the desired position in each link.

Th modified form of link shown in Figures 5 and 6 is also similar to-those previously discussed.

in this modification the body portion 41) of the link has a longitudinal groove I formed in the face opposing the double loops, the grooves terminating in apertures I I which perforate the body portion immediately in front of the rear or body engaging loop 317 and immediately in rear of the front or neck engaging loop. A retaining bar or anchor member I2 is received in the longitudinal groove and provided with tabs or hook lugs I3 which pass through the apertures I I and are bent back along the outer periphery of the double loops. Secured to the retaining bar by spot welding or other convenient means is a spring retaining ring I 4 adapted to grip the cartridge body as explained above. The tabs I3 may be positioned for engagement with the outside of the loops of the adjacent link to assist in maintaining spacing in an assembled belt. The term disintegrating type as used in the claims with reference to a cartridge belt, will be understood to mean a belt in which the consecutive links are interpivoted or pivotally connected by the cartridges, so that the belt disintegrates into a series of links as the cartridges are extracted by the mechanism of the machine gun.

Obviously the practice of my invention is not limited to the embodiments specifically described above as many other means of attaching a gripping ring may be devised. For example the gripping ring might be molded in place by inserting it into the mold in which the link is formed, although for ease and convenience in manufacture it is deemed to be preferable to assemble the ring and link after molding of the plastic elements. The steel insert in any case provides a gripping action which will remain substantially constant Without increasing the weight of the link to a troublesome extent.

I claim:

1. In a link for a machine gun belt of the disintegrating type, lfirst and second loops shaped to embrace a cartridge, a body portion rigid with said first and second loops and connecting the same in coaxial spaced relation, said body portion, first and second loops being of plastic material, and a third resilient metallic loop secured to said portion between said first and second loops and in contact with the inner end 0f said first loop and in coaxial relation with said first and second loops, said third loop being adapted to resiliently grip a cartridge inserted into said first and second loops.

2. A machine gun belt link comprising a pair of axially aligned cartridge encircling loops, a body portion connecting said loops in longitudinally spaced relation, there being a circumferential groove in said body portion coaxial with said loops, and an open metallic ring secured in said groove in substantially axial alignment with said loops, said ring having a smaller diameter than one of said loops.

3. A link for a machine gun belt of the disintegrating type comprising an elongated body portion of plastic material havin a transverse slot intermediate its ends, a first cartridge receiving loop of plastic material secured to said portion with one end adjacent said slot, and a metallic cartridge gripping loop generally conforming in shape to said end of said loop and closely adjacent said loop to form a continuation thereof, said metallic loop having its ends passing through said slot and crimped outwardly over the ends thereof.

4. A belt link as recited in claim 3, a second loop secured to said portion in spaced coaxial.

relation with said first loop, a third loop secured to said portion in position to fit between the first and second loops of a next adjacent link, the cartridge gripping loop of one link being constructed and arranged to engage the outwardly crimped ends of the corresponding loop of the next adjacent link when said links are pivotally connected by a cartridge.

5. A link for machine gun belts of the disintegrating type comprising a body portion having a trough on one of its faces and having an opening whereby communication of said trough with the general opposite surface of said body is provided, a loop projecting from said body portion, an anchor member disposed in said trough, a hook lug operatively connected to said anchor member through the said Opening in said body arranged to engage the said opposite surface of said body for at least aiding in retaining said anchor member in said trough, and a resilient means mounted upon said anchor member adapted to facilitate the controlling of a cartridge received in said loop.

6. A belt link comprising a body portion having a trough on one face thereof and having an openin whereby communication of said trough with the general opposite surface of said body is provided, a loop projecting from said body portion, an anchor member disposed in said trough, a hook lug operatively connected to said anchor member through the said opening in said body arranged to engage the said opposite surface of said body for at least aiding in retaining said anchor member in said trough, and an open ring mounted upon said anchor member adapted to facilitate the controlling of a cartridge received in said loop.

'7. A belt link comprising a body portion, a loop projecting from said body portion and adapted to receive a cartridge, there being a pair of spaced openings in said body portion, a supporting bar having portions inserted in said openings, and a cartridge-retaining member carried by said supporting bar and projecting in proximity to said loop for engagement with a cartridge carried by said loop.

8. A belt link comprising a pair of coaxial, spaced cartridge-supporting loops, a transverse bridge portion connecting said loops, there being a pair of transversely spaced openings in said bridge portion, a supporting bar having portions inserted in said openings, and a cartridge-retaining member carried by said supporting bar and projectin in proximity to one of said loops for engagement with a cartridge carried by said loops.

9. A cartridge belt, comprising a plurality of links each having two oppositely extending loops, the adjacent loops of adjacent links being in axial alignment, a cartridge in each pair of axially aligned loops, the links being connected only by the cartridges which serve as link hinge pintles, and a plurality of resilient elements carried by said links for the releasable retention of the cartridges in the link loops, said retaining elements having spring-gripping portions for clamping engagement with said links.

10. A cartridge belt, comprising a plurality of links, each having two oppositely extending loops, the adjacent loops of adjacent links being in axial alignment, a cartridge in each pair of axially aligned loops, the links of the belt being connected only by the cartridges which serve as link hinge pintles, one of the loops of each pair of axially aligned loops having two spaced and axially aligned loop sections, and resilient retaining elements of ring-like form carried by said links for the releasable retention of the cartridges in the link loops, there being a cartridge-retaining element between the two spaced and axially aligned loop sections of each link.

11. In a link for a machine gun ammunition belt of the disintegrating type, comprising, a body portion, first and second loops fixed to and extending from one side of said portion in spaced coaxial relation, a third loop fixed to and extending from the other side of said portion opposite the space between said first and second loops, and a fourth cartridge-gripping loop secured to said portion and having one side positioned against the inner side of said second loop, the other side of said fourth loop and one side of said third loop, being coplanar, the other side of said REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 628,871 Trochain July 11, 1899 891,374 Ruszitszka June 23, 1900 2,302,595 Berry Nov. 1'7, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 127,865 Great Britain June 19, 1919 399,696 Great Britain Oct. 12, 1933 203,176 Germany Oct. 22, 1908 312,418 Germany May 24, 1919 

